STAND. COM. REP. NO. 126-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1790

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Higher Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1790 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO POLICING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require:

(1) Law enforcement agencies and police oversight agencies to collect and report certain data regarding law enforcement stops, uses of force, and complaints to the Hawaii Crime Lab affiliated with the University of Hawaii; and

(2) The Hawaii Crime Lab affiliated with the University of Hawaii to collect and publish incident-level information and an annual report on the data collected.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender; University of Hawaiʻi College of Social Sciences; Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice; Hawaii Crime Lab; ACLU of Hawaii; Policing Project at NYU School of Law; Center for Policing Equity; National Police Accountability Project; Alzheimer's Association Hawaii Chapter; Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project; and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General and Department of Law Enforcement.

Your Committee finds that public trust in law enforcement is critical to ensuring justice for all under the law. Your Committee further finds that complete and accurate data collection on law enforcement stops, uses of force, and complaints against law enforcement officers not only allows the public, law enforcement, and policymakers to analyze the effectiveness of existing practices, but also increases community trust, transparency, and internal accountability through data analysis.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending language to avoid confusion regarding certain definitions;

(2) Clarifying that collecting and analyzing data regarding law enforcement stops, uses of force, and complaints against law enforcement officers is a matter of statewide concern;

(3) Including cognitive impairments such as dementia as a relative data point;

(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1790, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1790, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Higher Education,

____________________________

ANDREW TAKUYA GARRETT, Chair